Also Newbern, Tenn., pharmacy infections increase to 24 in four states

Jun. 4, 2013

Written by

Walter F. Roche Jr. and Tom Wilemon

The Tennessean

Three people from Virginia have died from fungal meningitis, increasing the nationwide death toll to 58 in the ongoing outbreak that has sickened 745, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.

The CDC is also tracking another outbreak linked to the same medicine that has sickened 24 people in four states with what have, so far, been less-serious illnesses. The second outbreak involving methylprednisolone acetate is from medicine made by Main Street Family Pharmacy in Newbern, Tenn.

Arkansas joined Illinois, North Carolina and Florida as states where injection site infections have been linked to the Main Street Family Pharmacy. There were two new illnesses since Friday, both reported from Arkansas.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on May 24 announced that the Newbern pharmacy had recalled all its sterile drugs because of illnesses that were first observed in Illinois.

Woody McMillin, spokesman for the Tennessee Health Department, said no infections linked to the Newbern pharmacy have been reported in this state, though the drug company did ship products to seven health facilities in the state, including a clinic in White House.

But Tennessee has been one of the hardest-hit states in the fungal meningitis outbreak. It began last summer, but the illnesses were not discovered until mid-September. There have been 152 illnesses reported from Tennessee with 15 deaths.

The steroid is often used in epidurals as a treatment for chronic back pain.

The drugs linked to the fungal meningitis outbreak were made by Massachusetts-based New England Compounding Center and shipped across the country. The company has shut down and is in bankruptcy.